Richard D. Carvajal, MD, has been named director of the Experimental Therapeutics/Phase I program and melanoma service in medical oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, effective November 1, 2014. Dr. Carvajal, a medical oncologist, has extensive clinical expertise in melanomas and leadership experience in early-stage clinical trials for patients with advanced cancers, as well as in the development of novel therapies for rare cancers. He joins NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he was director of Developmental Therapeutics and the Elizabeth and Felix Rohatyn Chair for Junior Faculty.

A new craniofacial surgery program has opened at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Made possible by a generous gift to the Hospital from NewYork-Presbyterian trustee David H. Komansky and his wife Phyllis Komansky, the program will offer comprehensive care, including corrective surgery, for deformities of the skull, face and jaw.

Promising results from a team of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center physician-scientists show that gene therapy is both safe and effective at slowing the progression of Batten disease, or Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (LINCL), a rare, genetic, degenerative neurological disorder that usually becomes fatal in children by the age of 8 to 12.

More than a dozen students enrolled in NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's Lang Youth Medical Program were among the first New Yorkers to test the capabilities of a new robotic surgical machine today. The students manipulated the arms of the da Vinci® S™ HD System to move, unwrap and sort candies. The students also named the system, dubbing it "The LS Machine" after their Lang Youth Scholar status.

Errand Solutions, LLC (Errand Solutions) is pleased to announce the official launch of a concierge service at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The on-site concierge desk, staffed with individuals known as Sanity Savers™, will provide a plethora of personal assistant–type services, including everything from dry cleaning, pet sitting and gift shopping to full-service travel planning. Initially, the services will be available to employees at each of the Hospital's five major centers, and then to patients and their families in the coming months.

Could injecting a gene into a patient with severe heart failure reverse their disabling and life-threatening condition? Physician-scientists are setting out to answer that question in a first-ever clinical trial of gene therapy to treat severe heart failure.

Weill Cornell Science Briefs is an electronic newsletter published by the Office of Public Affairs that focuses on innovative medical research and patient care at Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The newsletter is sent electronically to journalists and available to all on this Web site.

Weill Cornell Science Briefs is an electronic newsletter published by the Office of Public Affairs that focuses on innovative medical research and patient care at Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The newsletter is sent electronically to journalists and available to all on this Web site.